Apparatus for inverting trays and the like



Patented 16, l1924..

UNITED srATEs APari-:.Nr ,goFFICE.

mi E. II'FJION,V 0l' LONDON, WISCONSIN, .ASSIGNOR V'.lO THE BOBDEN COM- Pm, OF'NEW YORK, Y., A CORPORATION'TOF "NEW JERSEY. v

.arrmus non mvna'rnre rnAYs AND THE Linn.

Aipnuon med'septembu 1o, 192s.l sei-m1 ne. 661,609.v

. To all lwhom it may concern: Y

r Be it known that I, WuLLmMV E. Mn'rON, a citizen fof the United States, residing in New London, in the county of Waupaca, in the State of Wisconsin, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Inverting Trays andthe like, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates toan apparatus for inverting trays and the like. A f ,v

It iscustoma to subject canned foods, such as'milk an Vthe like, to afsterilizin rocess. vThe cans are convenientlylhandle y being placed in irontrays which usually contain about twenty-four cans. When the cans come from. the sterilizing apparatus they are. transferred to wooden trays in which they are conveyed to the storehouse. The common practice is'to have the wooden a0 trays ofthe samesize as the iron trays and asthe iron trays are taken from thesterilizer to place `the woodentraysupside down on top ofthe cans which project upwardly from the iron trays, :then invert the trays and cansand remove the iron trays. This procedure entails the expenditure .of considerable time and labor. The object of the invention is` to reducey thelcostof transferwooden tray 11 placedy on kthe top of the ring the cans fromy they iron trays to the wooden trays. To this end, the invention consists in the'provision of a conveyor which receives the cans inthe iron ltrays from the .sterilizi'ng apparatus. This conveyor is longr :enough to permit a workman to place an inverted wooden trayonthe cans. kAt the discharge endof the conveyor isa platform which receives the iron trays. This platform is arranged to receive an iron tray with thecans and Wooden'` tray, and whenthe 4o latter are properly positioned lto invert them, depositing them upon vanother conveyor from which they yare .taken to; storage. vWhile'the cans are traveling in the wooden tray on the second conveyor the iron tray is 'removed by the workman. l The invention is more fully described lhereinafter andis articularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In .the accom anying drawings illustrating the preferre form of the invention, Fig.

I0 11s a side elevation of the improved tray vals indicated in the drawings. iVhen a tray The platform 14 'extends forwardly from the inverting apparatus; and Fig. 2 is a top plan of the'parts shown in Fig. l.

A,The trays 5 to be inverted are received from .the `'sterilizing apparatus or other sourcebya conveyor vgenerally indicated` at 6. The conveyor Geomprises a plurality of rollers 7. journalled at their opposite ends inthe. longitudinally arrangedbars 8 and 9, lwhich are supportedon thel uprights 10.

The trays 5 are supported on and carried 60 vforward by a conveyor belt 12 which vrests on the top lofthe rollers and travels in the direction indicated bythe arrows at the left in Fig. ,1. The rrollers 7 are placed ynear enough together so that the trays will be properly 4supported 'on the belt 12. The trays 5 are shallow rectangular box-like structures, adaptedto hold, for example,

twenty-four cans placed upright in the trays,

5 containing its upstanding cans, as shown in full lines at position A,has been placed oni the receiving end of the conveyor 6 and is carried forward by the belt 12, a work-y manplaces an inverted' tray 11 on the top of the upstanding cans, as indicated at position B. I r

When the iron tray-r 5 with'fthe inverted `received by a platformlll, by whichthe two trays with' theT cans between them vare inverted, the wooden trayll -being shifted to the bottom and the iron tray `5 to the top.

conveyor G and is provided at its rear side with the ears 15 which are pivotally connected with the shaft`16 on which the .foremost roller,17 is mountedl `The platform 14 is normally held in' its tray receiving position, as shownin full lines in Fig. l, by meansof the -counter-Weights 18. In this VAposition the' platform vand counter-weights are in lequillbrium fwhich is overcome when the trays and cans are properly positioned `on the platform by the conveyor 6.

n It will be observed that the'upper surfaceof'the platform 14 is `somewhat below the ,upper section of the 'conveyor belt 12 resting on the rollers 7. The' tray 5 is carried for- 100 side' up and ,the iron tray 5 in ward'in a substantially horizontal position by the yconveyor belt 12 until it is more than half way beyond the axis of the roller 17. Thereupon the forward 'end of the tray drops upon the platform 14 and the front edge of the tray is caught and Supported ,by the forwardedge 19 of the"p1atform./The

4weight of the traysv and the cans'beingl forward end ofthe trayfll descendsonto.l the conveyor belt 22,]'the force ofthe fall having been thus gradually andgreatly diminished. The "wooden tray 11`is now right inverted position on top of the cans. t i -l 1 The discharge conveyorv21 is ofthe ,same

general construction as 'the receiving con- 'veyor 6 and comprises a series of rollers 24 -journalled in the' side biars 25,"and26 supl rorted from the uprights 27 The conveyor Eelt22 travels in the direction indicateduby hearr ows and is driven from 'a source of powernotshown In order that'the trays and cans on conveyor belt 22 may be carried' forward out'of the way of the next succeedving trays and cansfrom the platform 14, conveyor belt 22 travelsata higher rate of speed than 'conveyor b'e1tf12; Beltl 1,2 is` driven from belt 22 and the rdifference in speed i`s` efl'ectedE by having the pulley 28 (driven by conveyor belt 22) smaller :in diameter than pulley 29 which drives the yconveyorbelt I12. The belt 30 connects the I- two ulleys.` Asqthe trays vare' carried for'- rwar by conveyor 21, theworkmanremoves 'theinverted irontraysfrom the cans and f thewooden trays llwith the'cans therein Having thus escribedl ythe invention, whatIclaim as-nevvis:.'v Y f ,l l l. An apparatusfor'inverting trays and the like comprisinga platform mounted in y equilibriuml for receiving Ua, loadedA tray krightside with an inverted 4tray thereon, fandmeans' for placing the trays on 'theplatform vto overcome its Lequilibrium, the momentum imparted'to the traysas the platform and trays'inove toar'iosition "of rest.

:causin the traysto be ejected upside down fromt eplatform'. p v

Y 2- An appara-tus forinverting trays and the like comprising a conveyor for receiving and carrying forward the trays ri htside vup, each tray .'havi'ngff an inve' Qtray lilieifeon t thereon, a platform pivoted at oneend extending forward beyond the conveyor, a v counterweight for normally holding they platform in receiving position, theiconveyor y carrying a pair of traysl forwardonto the platform `until lthe co'unterweight Eris over balanced, `themomentum"` imparted to the trays as 4the platformudescends causing the trays tobe .ejected from the platform upside dofwn, and a/-secondfconveyor for receiving the trays Nas they are ejected from the Platform. f

3. An apparatus pivoted platform having a counterweight or holding it in normal position, "means" vfor 'qconvleying a.

u y v*for inverting trays and the 'like comprising a tray'rightside lu with an invertedtray over it onto the `plat orm, the weightfof /thetr'ays causing the platform to swingjdownward' to f position-v to ej ect-the `trays'therefrom upside down,-and means for 'conveying away the inverted trays. v `f f' i' 4. apparatus y the like comprising a' pivoted Yplatform rovided with a counterweiglit 'tending to itjinnormal position, means for conveying a 'tray 5rightside iup with4 'an inverted tray old "i for inverting? tfaysfiand vover it onto the platformfto disturb its 'equilibrium and 'swing'.the platform into .position/ to eject the trays therefrom upside down, and means for receivingthe inverted trays and Aconveyingthen);'avs'ayat-a faster rate thanl they `are conve edtotheplatform l ing the' trays rightside uppeachltray' carrying'the pairsjrof trays'nforwardyonto the platform, the platform being 'mounted' on the dischargeend ofthe conveyorso that when a *ipair "l fY traysLL iS Properly Plad ve 'platform isf 'actuated to turn the positioned with its receiving 'end -underfthe 6. An apparatus for invertin traysfand thel like comprising a conveyor orcarryi forwardfa tray r1ghtside up and'a's'e'con properly placed thereonit ismoved to eject the trays therefrom vso that' the top tray will 'discharge end ofthe first conveyor to' carry `away the inverted trays, f 11'0 trayfsuperposed upon, the `first 'tra bottom? .l'si'de up,rv a platform atthee'nd o jtheconveyor for receiving the v trays inf/the' same "rela-tive vposition which they were on the conveyor, the platform being mountediin l 'equilibrium so that when ey ltrays fare lland rightside upand Vthevbottoiri tray will f be bottomside ,up and meansffor receiving the inverted trays fromfthe platform. if

1 7. .An apparatus for invevartin *traysa'nd the likecomprising a; conveyor or carrying vforward a tray positioned ,thereon'ri ht'side 'urwith a Second tray Seperpesd' 0e te. Lfirst 100 ingan inverted tray, a'conveyor for 08,1?15" one bottomside up, a platform pivotally trays causing the platform to swing into mounted at the discharge end of the consuchpositon as to eject the trays so that veyor for receiving the trays, the platform the top tray will fall first rightside up, and 10 bemg held in normal position by a countermea-ns for receiving the inverted trays from weight which is over balanced by the trays the platform and conveying them away. when they are properly positioned on the platform by the conveyor, the weight of the WILLIAM E. MITTON. 

